3-state study sheds light on math learning resource

By Laura Ascione

August 31st, 2015

Sixth and seventh graders saw improvements in math assessments after using LearnBop in classroom studies, company says

Interactive math learning system LearnBop, a partner of Fuel Education, released results from a 3-state efficacy study showing students that used its product made a 7-10 percentile point gain in sixth and seventh grade math skills assessment.

Using both a control group, which did not use LearnBop, and a group that used LearnBop, the study compared the pre- and post-test assessments of more than 800 students. The study found that after only 16 hours of use, students with LearnBop outperformed other students receiving traditional classroom instruction by 7-10 percentile points.

“This news comes at a crucial time,” explained LearnBop founder and CEO Bharanidharan Rajakumar. “Math scores in the US continue to decline in the face of tougher standards. Students need tools not just to help them master the basic concepts for any STEM related field but to learn them faster without sacrificing time for liberal arts topics. It is vital that students have access to new ways of successfully mastering math skills.”

The LearnBop platform uses a unique step-by-step approach to learning math, mirroring the personalized support that a student would get in a one-on-one tutoring session. Each step covers a concept students need to understand in order to solve the original problem they were assigned, which means that data on student performance regarding fundamental concepts is collected as students learn.

Using LearnBop in their classrooms for the duration of the efficacy study, teachers were able to uncover the precise concepts students needed to study, and then utilize personalized learning resources to help students master those concepts, resulting in highly impressive and quantifiable improvements.

Every step in LearnBop’s system is tagged with a mathematical concept. This could be a concept based on a national standard, or a state standard. Additional state alignments are in development. Because every step is tagged with a concept, data on student performance is collected in real-time while students learn. This data is presented to teachers in dashboard reports immediately available at the end of each session, and is incredibly valuable and time-saving in identifying students’ specific knowledge gaps.

Laura Ascione

Laura Ascione is the Managing Editor, Content Services at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland's prestigious Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
When she isn't wrangling her two children, Laura enjoys running, photography, home improvement, and rooting for the Terps.
Find Laura on Twitter: @eSN_Laurahttp://twitter.com/eSN_Laura